REYNOLDS C. SMITH, LCDR, USN
Reynolds Smith '32
Lucky Bag
From the 1932 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Reynolds was lost when USS Gregory (APD 3) was sunk near Guadalcanal by Japanese surface forces early in the morning of September 5, 1942.
His wife was listed as next of kin; he has a memory marker in Michigan. He was also survived by his mother and "two small children" (from Lansing State Journal on September 16, 1942).
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
October 1932
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1933
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1933
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1933
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1933
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1934
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1934
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1934
Ensign, staff, Battleship Division 4, USS West Virginia
Others at or embarked at USS West Virginia:
ENS Ludwell Pickett, Jr. '33 (USS West Virginia)
January 1935
Ensign, staff, Battleship Division 4, USS West Virginia
Others at or embarked at USS West Virginia:
ENS Ludwell Pickett, Jr. '33 (USS West Virginia)
April 1935
Ensign, staff, Battleship Division 4, USS West Virginia
Others at or embarked at USS West Virginia:
ENS Ludwell Pickett, Jr. '33 (USS West Virginia)
January 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Lamson
April 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Lamson
July 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Drayton
January 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Kane
April 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Kane
September 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Kane
January 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Kane
July 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Antares
January 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Antares
October 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS Eagle 27
June 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS Eagle 27
November 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS PC-452
April 1941
Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS PC-452
Class of 1932
Reynolds is one of 53 members of the Class of 1932 on Virtual Memorial Hall.